Archive for September, 2014

The Federal Circuit has posted the oral argument schedule for October and November and it appears that all sessions are going to be held in D.C. this year. Usually, the Federal Circuit sits outside of D.C. during the fall. Perhaps the court is counting its visit to Baltimore in February as its trip for the year. Or, perhaps the court will ride circuit to a warm weather location in December. Florida? San Diego? U.S. District Court of the Virgin Islands (St. Thomas and St. Croix)? U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico? U.S. District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands? U.S. District Court of Guam?

Here’s a list of previous locations where the court rode circuit through 2009. [List] Since 2010, the court also rode circuit to Atlanta, Oregon, Denver, and various Third Circuit locales.

The Federal Circuit heard oral argument in Akamai v. Limelight yesterday for the third time. The case is back at the Federal Circuit after remand from the Supreme Court. You can listen to the oral argument [here].

The Federal Circuit hasn’t had a district court judge sit by designation for quite some time. During Chief Judge Rader’s tenure there was a marked decline in judges sitting by designation, as compared to his predecessor Chief Judge Michel.

Here’s one suggestion: Judge George Wu of the Central District of California.

Those of you in the Denver area might be interested to know that Russell Slifer — former Micron chief patent counsel and new head of the USPTO-Denver office — will be the keynote speaker at BioWest 2014, on September 10th. Details are available [here].

Just a heads up to those of you thinking of conducting a hearing or personal interview at a USPTO facility — depending on which state you hail from, your driver’s license may not be sufficient for access. Practitioners visiting the USPTO from Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, New York, Oklahoma, and Washington are at risk. See the PTO announcement below. [Link]

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USPTO to Institute New Visitor Policy Effective August 4, 2014

As of August 4, 2014, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will be instituting new access control procedures that may affect visitors to the USPTO campus in Alexandria, Virginia, as well as visitors to USPTO’s satellite offices in Denver and Detroit.

These changes are the result of the Federal Government’s enforcement of the REAL ID Act, which enacts one of the key recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. The Act establishes minimum security standards for state-issued driver licenses and identification cards and prohibits Federal agencies from accepting those documents for official purposes unless the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) determines that the state meets the minimum standards.

As of April 21, the following states do not meet the REAL ID standards:

Alaska

American Samoa

Arizona

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maine

Massachusetts

Minnesota

Montana

New York

Oklahoma

Washington

Visitors to the USPTO with state issued identification from these states must present alternate forms of identification to facilitate access. Three of the states listed above offer an Enhanced Driver’s License that is identifiable by an American flag on the license; they are New York, Minnesota, and Washington. USPTO will accept the Enhanced Driver’s Licenses from those states.

DHS currently accepts other forms of Federal-issued identification in lieu of a state-issued driver’s license, such as a:

Passport

Passport card

DoD’s CAC

Federal agency HSPD-12 ID

Veterans ID

Military dependents ID

Trusted Traveler card – Global Entry, SENTRI, or NEXUS

Transportation Workers Identification Credential (TWIC)

For visitors using state-issued ID to access the USPTO, only driver’s licenses or identification cards from states that meet Federal standards will be honored. USPTO will continue to accept other forms of government-issued identification, including Federal employee badges, passports, military identification cards, or Enhanced Driver’s Licenses as noted above.

If visitors do not have acceptable identity documents, the person to be visited at USPTO will need to provide an escort in order for the visitor to access the USPTO. The visitor must be escorted at all times while in USPTO secured areas.